JP7670498B2 - Cloud-hosted interface for portable device communicators - Google Patents

Description

The present disclosure relates generally to process control systems, and more specifically to process control systems that use handheld communicators to access or configure process control devices in a plant.

A handheld communicator is a mobile computing device used in or near plants and plant equipment, sometimes in hazardous environments, to configure process control devices, such as controllers and field devices, and to collect data from process control devices. While communication technology may allow for remote management and collection of remote device data, a handheld communicator may still need to be used to connect directly to a process control device to adjust parameters and collect data. There may be several reasons for this. Process control devices, such as field devices, may be stranded devices that are not remotely networked (e.g., in the case of legacy systems with network incompatibilities or processes that are isolated by design). In some situations, devices may be networked, but communication to networked devices is too slow for certain diagnostic applications or changes. In some systems, process control devices may not yet be commissioned (e.g., active or online) or may not yet be fully installed (e.g., awaiting configuration and programming from a handheld communicator). In some situations, a process control device may be malfunctioning and require direct on-site connection for diagnosis, calibration, or adjustment. In some situations, location-specific factors may need to be considered when making changes, thereby requiring on-site adjustments to the process control device, even for networked devices. In general, handheld communicators can be used by technicians to make remote, on-site manual configuration adjustments to process control devices, such as field devices and controllers.

When the handheld communicator is being used to read from or adjust a process control device, the process control device information collected by the handheld communicator can be stored in an on-board memory. This information can include configuration changes, parameter changes, calibration data, and other information. The handheld communicator can be designed to periodically or continuously upload this configuration data to a central device configuration database when communicatively coupled to the database. If the handheld communicator cannot connect to a device configuration database or is not communicatively coupled to a plant network, such as via a wired connection to a workstation, the communicator can cache the recorded configuration changes with a date and time stamp for later transfer to the device configuration database when the device is connected.

Typically, these handheld communicators are adapted to unidirectionally communicate device information collected in the field (e.g., in a plant or a remote area of a plant network) to a central workstation or server. A secondary system of a distributed process control system (DCS) application, such as an asset management system (AMS), may include a device configuration management function that is used to manage a configuration database for storing configuration and calibration information collected by the handheld communicators for process control devices in the plant for plant device health analysis and maintenance. This information is useful for centralized operators to perform device health analysis, schedule maintenance, and update work schedules, but it is also useful for instrumentation engineers in the field operating to configure devices or adjust device parameters.

Currently, instrumentation engineers may not be able to utilize the large amount of information in a centralized configuration database using a handheld communicator. For example, configuration information on file may be useful to instrumentation engineers in certain situations where a new process is implemented and corresponding equipment is delivered and needs to be commissioned in a similar, if not the same, manner as an existing set of equipment. Alternatively, in some plants, where there is a rotating set of equipment for a particular process or sub-process, it may be useful to duplicate or reference a previous configuration. In this situation, equipment may be periodically replaced with another set of equipment for maintenance purposes, in which case the replacement equipment needs to be calibrated or configured. Another situation where previous configuration data may be useful is when equipment is periodically recalibrated or reused for other processes based on a schedule or time period. Instrumentation engineers may benefit from referencing at least a stored baseline set of existing configurations for a particular type of equipment, but the raw configuration data may not be in a format that is useful to a technician in the field, so it may be difficult to find and download the appropriate configuration.

The present disclosure describes a method and system for sharing process control device configuration data among multiple handheld communicator devices via a plant network or public data store. The handheld communicator can connect to and access the process control device. The handheld communicator can generate a configuration profile that records device parameters of the process control device, which may include changes made by the handheld communicator during a configuration session. In an embodiment, the handheld communicator can assign relational identifiers to the configuration profile, such as an equipment identifier and a process identifier. The configuration profile can be searched by the device identifier and the equipment identifier. In an embodiment, the configuration profile can be differentiated by the equipment identifier and the associated equipment profile, along with the process identifier. Upon identifying a configuration profile associated with an equipment set, the configuration profile of the equipment set or a portion of the equipment set can be downloaded and installed from the plant network or public data store to one or more handheld communicators.

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a distributed process control network deployed within a process plant or other industrial environment that includes handheld communicators. FIG. 2 illustrates a system that uses a device configuration manager application interface to organize information from multiple device communicators. FIG. 3A illustrates an example plant parameter list showing the configuration of plant devices. FIG. 3B illustrates an example plant parameter list showing the configuration of the plant devices. FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary search interface for querying and searching device configuration files according to an embodiment. FIG. 5 illustrates a search results screen for matching configuration files according to an embodiment. FIG. 6 illustrates a search result screen for matching configuration files in a graphical format according to an embodiment. FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary configuration file transfer interface according to an embodiment. FIG. 8 illustrates a system that uses a handheld communicator to manage configuration data and provide the configuration data to an instrument engineer in the field. FIG. 9 illustrates a method for modifying a handheld communicator to provide configuration data organized based on a device configuration template. FIG. 10 illustrates an exemplary data model that can be used in the method illustrated in FIG.

1 is a block and schematic diagram of an exemplary process control network 100 operating in a process control system, process plant, or other industrial environment 10. The process control network 100 can include a network backbone 105 that provides direct or indirect connectivity between various other devices. The network backbone 105 can include both wireless and/or wired communication channels or links. The devices coupled to the network backbone 105 can, in various embodiments, include a combination of access points 72, portable industrial computing devices 112, which can be handheld or other portable computing devices such as laptop computers, tablets, handheld smart devices, portable test devices (PTDs), etc., fixed industrial computing devices 113, such as personal computers, workstations, etc., each having a display screen 114, as well as various other input/output devices (not shown), servers 150, etc.

As shown in FIG. 1, the controller 11 is connected to the field devices 15-22 via input/output (I/O) cards 26 and 28, which may implement any desired process control communication protocol, such as one or more of the following protocols: HART, Fieldbus, CAN, Profibus, etc. The controller 11 is communicatively connected to the field devices 15-22 in FIG. 1 to perform control of the field devices 15-22, and thus the plant. In general, the wired field devices 15-22 may be any type of device, such as a sensor, valve, transmitter, positioner, etc., while the I/O cards 26 and 28 may be any type of I/O device conforming to any desired communication or controller protocol. For example, the field devices 15-22 and/or the I/O cards 26 and 28 may be configured according to the HART protocol or the Fieldbus protocol. The controller 11 includes a processor 30 that implements or oversees one or more process control routines 38 (or any modules, blocks, or subroutines thereof) stored in memory 32. Generally speaking, the controller 11 communicates with the devices 15-22 and the host computer 113 to control the process in any desired manner. Additionally, the controller 11 implements a control strategy or scheme using what are generally referred to as function blocks (not shown), each of which is an object or other portion (e.g., a subroutine) of an overall control routine that operates with other function blocks (through communications called links) to implement a process control loop within the process control system 10. A function block typically implements one of the following: an input function associated with a transmitter, sensor or other process parameter measurement device, a control function associated with a control routine that controls PID, fuzzy logic, etc., or an output function that controls the operation of some device, such as a valve, to implement some physical function within the process control system 10. Of course, hybrid and other types of function blocks may exist and be utilized. The function blocks may be stored and executed in the controller 11 or other devices.

As shown in FIG. 1, the wireless gateway 35 and the wireless communication network 70 are similarly communicatively coupled to the network backbone 105. The communication network 70 may include wireless devices 40-58, including wireless field devices 40-46, wireless adapters 52a and 52b, access points 55a and 55b, and a router 58. The wireless adapters 52a and 52b may be connected to non-wireless field devices 48 and 50, respectively. Although FIG. 1 depicts only one of several of the devices connected to the network backbone 105, it will be understood that each of the devices may have multiple instances on the network backbone 105, and in fact the process plant 10 may include multiple network backbones 105.

The industrial computing devices 112, 113 can be communicatively connected to the controller 11 and the wireless gateway 35 via the network backbone 105. The controller 11 can be communicatively connected to the wireless field devices 40-46 via the network backbone 105 and the wireless gateway 35. The controller 11 can operate to implement a batch or continuous process using at least some of the field devices 15-22 and 40-50. The controller 11, which can be a DeltaV™ controller sold by Emerson Process Management by way of example, is communicatively connected to the process control network backbone 105. The controller 11 can also be communicatively connected to the field devices 15-22 and 40-50 using any desired hardware and software, for example, standard 4-20 MA devices, I/O cards 26, 28, and/or associated with any smart communication protocol, such as the FOUNDATION® Fieldbus protocol, the HART® protocol, the Wireless HART® protocol, etc. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, the controller 11, the field devices 15-22, and the I/O cards 26, 28 are wired devices, and the field devices 40-46 are wireless field devices.

Additionally, one or more portable industrial devices 112, which may be a field device maintenance tool, a multimeter, a portable loop power supply, a field device configuration tool, etc., may be intermittently communicatively connected to one or more field devices 15-22, 40-50 and/or one or more buses or communication lines (e.g., HART loops, Fieldbus bus segments, etc.) to which the field devices 15-22, 40-50 are connected, such connections being illustrated by dashed lines in FIG. 1. Such network connections may include, for example, hardwired lines connecting one or more of the field devices 15-22, 40-50 to the I/O cards 26 and 28 via the backbone 105. Alternatively, the portable industrial device 112 may be communicatively connected directly to one of the field devices 15-22, 40-50 (e.g., via a communication terminal present at the field device 15-22, 40-50). In some cases, the portable industrial device 112 may provide power to the field devices 15-22, 40-50 or the wire loops to which it is connected. Additionally, the portable industrial device 112 may enable a user to communicate with, configure, perform maintenance activities, and/or diagnose one or more of the field devices 15-22, 40-50 when these field devices are installed in a plant. In still other cases, the portable industrial device 112 may include a wireless interface that may be used to wirelessly connect to one or more of the field devices 15-22, 40-50, such as a Bluetooth interface, a Wi-Fi interface, or a wireless process control protocol interface or connection, such as one that uses the WirelessHART protocol. The portable industrial device 112, which may be described herein or referred to herein as a handheld communicator, may be directly connected to the industrial computing device 113 (also described herein as a workstation) via a wired cable, such as a USB connection, for uploading collected device data to the computing device 113 or via the computing device 113 to the server 150 and database 151.

The handheld communicator 112 may generally be used to configure, support, and maintain field devices, and thus may be used to support process measurement devices, such as pressure, temperature, level, and flow analysis sensors, flow meters, valve positioners, and the like. However, the handheld communicator 112 may be used to support, connect, maintain, communicate, or otherwise use other types of devices, including, for example, vibration detection and analysis equipment, power generation equipment, switches, motors, pumps, compressors, drives, machine vessels such as tanks, pipes, power distribution equipment, switchgear, motor control centers, other stand-alone equipment (e.g., equipment not communicatively connected to a process controller), or other types of industrial equipment. In these cases, the handheld communicator 112 may have a variety of different types of communication and power generation and sensing hardware (e.g., voltage, current, impedance, and the like generating and sensing equipment) to perform maintenance, configuration, and/or communication with these other types of industrial equipment.

In some embodiments, the handheld communicator 112 can be brought to the site of one of the field devices 15-22, 40-50 in the process plant. The handheld communicator 112 can be temporarily connected to the field devices 15-22, 40-50 via wired and/or wireless connections to perform calibration, configuration, troubleshooting, monitoring, control, or any other suitable operation on the field devices 15-22, 40-50. Additionally, the handheld communicator 112 can be temporarily connected to the controller 11 via wired and/or wireless connections to perform calibration, configuration, troubleshooting, monitoring, control, or any other suitable operation on the controller 11.

In operation, the industrial computing devices 112, 113 may each execute a user interface (UI) that allows the industrial computing devices 112, 113 to accept input via the input interface and provide output to the display. The industrial computing devices 112, 113 may receive data (e.g., data related to the process, such as process parameters, permissions, log data, sensor data, and/or any other data that may be captured and stored) from the server 150. In other embodiments, the UI may execute in whole or in part on the server 150, which may transmit display data to the industrial computing devices 112, 113. The industrial computing devices 112, 113 may receive user interface data (which may include display data and permission data) from other nodes or endpoints in the process control network 100, such as the controller 11, the wireless gateway 35, other industrial computing devices, or the server 150, via the backbone 105. The server 150 may be communicatively coupled to a database or data store 151 that may hold data for one or more process control applications running at least on the server 150 or the device 113. As used herein, plant devices such as controllers, field devices, and I/O devices used to manage and control one or more process variables are referred to herein as process control devices or plant devices.

Figure 2 illustrates a graphical user interface of a plant device configuration application 200 for managing process control device configurations in a process plant. In some systems, the device configuration application can be communicatively coupled to a device configuration database to store and record configuration and calibration information for plant devices. In some systems, the handheld communicator 112 described above can be an integral part of the data collection scheme of the device configuration application. A typical user of the handheld communicator 112 can be an instrumentation engineer. The configuration data collected from the handheld communicator 112 can be organized in a manner as shown in Figure 2.

2 illustrates a plant workstation 208, such as device 113, connected to a plant configuration database 210. The plant database 210 illustrates an organization of configuration files based on categories including plant location 212, area in plant 214, plant unit 216, and device/equipment 218. A category can be selected or opened to view the details or contents of the category. For example, the device icons under the equipment/device category 218 can represent configuration files for devices 220, 221, 222, 223. Device 220 can be a controller or a control module of a controller. Device 221 can be a pressure transmitter. Device 222 can be a valve actuator. Device 223 can be a valve position transmitter. Selecting a device icon 220-223 can display the contents of the device's configuration file. FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a configuration file 300 for a process control device, such as a pressure transmitter. It should be noted that the organization illustrated in FIG. 2 is merely exemplary and that in some embodiments, only some categories may be used to organize the configuration data.

Existing handheld communicators can be designed primarily to securely connect to process control devices, configure the devices, and route configuration data in one direction: toward a central device configuration database 210 (e.g., via a device configuration manager application 200). Handheld communicators can be designed to be inherently secure where limitations are in place to minimize power consumption of such devices. The impact of these limitations can limit the processing power and memory storage of the handheld communicator, which in turn can limit the number, size, and type of applications that can run on the handheld communicator. The processing power of the handheld communicator can be prioritized to applications that provide the primary functions of the communicator: on-site manual configuration of plant devices, caching or recording device configurations, and transferring those device configurations to a central repository to free up local device memory for additional configuration. In general, the configuration data can be used for centralized record keeping and report generation. For example, the device configuration manager 200 discussed herein can be part of a larger suite of applications that use device configuration data, among other types of data and sources, to generate useful aggregate device maintenance reports, device health reports, and the like.

While retrieving and referencing previous device configuration files may be useful for replicating parameter changes for different but similar devices, configuration data may be maintained in a manner that may make finding the appropriate configuration file for use with a handheld communicator tedious and time-consuming. FIG. 3 (consisting of FIGS. 3A and 3B) illustrates a typical configuration file stored in memory or a configuration database. FIG. 3 illustrates data typically collected from the configuration of a process control device, such as a Rosemount 3051 pressure sensor/transmitter. The configuration may be specific to the process control device and may be identified by device ID 310, device model/type 312, and capabilities 314. FIG. 3 illustrates that a configuration file or profile may include a complete list of all parameters for the pressure transmitter. Querying a data store, database, or table by device type 312, or even device tag 310, may generate dozens or hundreds of files. Finding or distinguishing one or several appropriate configuration files for a particular process control device application may be more tedious than performing a manual configuration and testing process anew. Loading a large number of these configuration files as a result of these types of searches may be impractical with the limited processing power of a handheld communicator.

As explained above, the limited capacity and temporary nature of configuration files on a handheld communicator may significantly limit the type and number of configuration profiles that may be maintained on a particular handheld communicator. However, if a technician recognizes the appropriateness of duplicating configuration on one or more devices, and that configuration data is available on the technician's handheld communicator, the technician's workload and efficiency in duplicating and installing the referenced configuration data on those machines may be significantly reduced. However, leaving the appropriate configuration files on the handheld communicator may be a fortuitous occurrence.

A technician may want to replicate the configuration process of a current device from a configuration performed in the past on a similar device in a similar situation. Alternatively, a technician may want to replicate a configuration based on a configuration performed by a different technician, where a particular difficult or complex configuration would be performed on a similar setup. When a technician wants to replicate a configuration, the technician may prefer to use a configuration installed by a technician in a previous session, since the technician has prior knowledge of the installation and status of that configuration. For example, a technician may have recent knowledge of the status of servicing or configuring a control valve. However, once the device configuration data is uploaded to the AMS Device Manager, that data may be deleted from the handheld communicator due to memory constraints. Additionally, handheld communicators may be assigned to different technicians without any guarantee that the technician will be able to use the same handheld communicator in the previous session.

Field technicians, who are typically tasked with performing remote site configurations using handheld communicators, can greatly benefit from referencing configuration data that the user has previously experienced or that matches the set of circumstances surrounding the current devices the technician is servicing. For example, similar circumstances may include a set of similar or identical equipment communicatively coupled to a process control device that the technician recognizes. Useful configuration data may include configuration files that the technician personally helped create due to the user's direct knowledge of the circumstances surrounding the configuration, such as field factors, device connections, etc. Additionally, field technicians can also greatly benefit from configuration files generated by other field technicians, where the configuration files may be similar or match the current set of equipment and/or processes.

FIGS. 4-6 show a set of user interfaces for managing process control device configuration files generated by one or more handheld communicators and stored centrally for retrieval upon request by the handheld communicators. FIG. 4 shows an exemplary search screen 400 for querying or searching for configuration profiles. Input box 401 allows a user to enter a process control device identifier (ID) or device type. In an embodiment, the device identifier may indicate a device type. Input box 403 allows a user to enter a set of relational equipment identifiers or equipment profiles associated with the device into input box 401. Input box 405 allows a user to enter a process control identifier, a process description or type, or a set of process variables to identify a process affected by the device identifier or device type into box 401.

FIG. 5 illustrates a configuration search results window 500 that includes an exemplary list of configuration files or profiles 502 with configuration identifiers that match or partially match the query of FIG. 4. FIG. 5 illustrates columns for configuration identifier 510, equipment set 512, and equipment identifier (ID) 514. In an embodiment, the search results may also indicate a process identifier (not shown). A user may select one or more configuration profiles to download to a handheld communicator, for example, by clicking a selection circle 520 next to each configuration profile set and then selecting download 522. FIG. 5 also illustrates that a user may select to display an equipment graph 524 for the configuration that shows the connections or associations between equipment sets.

Figure 6 shows a search result set 600 window displayed as an equipment graph. The result sets of Figure 5 are shown as equipment graphs 610, 612, and 614. Similar to the table list shown in Figure 5, the user can select one or more sets of configuration profiles (based on the equipment set) to download by clicking on the selection circle 620 and then selecting download 622. Figure 6 shows that the graph shows nodes 630 and terminal lines 632, where the nodes 630 can represent controllers or I/O devices and the terminal lines 632 can represent field devices. Figure 6 is only an example embodiment of a display graph that can be used. In other embodiments, more or less detail can be added to the display results and different icons and graphing conventions can be used. Graphs 612 and 614 show one particular feature of an embodiment of equipment profile results. In particular, the equipment configured here can include plant devices 635, such as field devices that are not under the direct control of the controller 637 of the current target device 640, marked with the letter "D". A field device 635 can be included in an equipment set because it is referenced by a technician who created the equipment. This can be the case when the device 635 can be a field device that is involved in the same process as the target device 640 or a related process. Another feature is that not all device connections are part of the equipment profile. For example, in the equipment profile graph 614, the field device 648 that includes the target device 650 can be part of the equipment profile even though it does not include a controller 652 (e.g., represented by a question mark "?").

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary file transfer or download selection screen 700. The exemplary file transfer screen of FIG. 7 may be reached when a user selects download 522 or 622 after selecting, for example, the first configuration file of FIG. 5 or FIG. 6. FIG. 7 illustrates a left transfer box 702 for a source of a configuration file, such as an AMS Device Manager application or a configuration database, and a right transfer box 704 as a destination for transferring the configuration file. FIG. 7 illustrates that the left transfer box 702 is populated by the equipment set 710 marked as "7467C" selected in FIG. 6 or FIG. 7, which includes component configuration files 712 for each device under the equipment set. In an embodiment, a user may select all or a subset of the configuration files 712 to download to the handheld communicator memory shown in the right transfer box. In an embodiment, a user may click on one or more icons associated with device configuration files 712 to mark those configuration files for transfer. In an embodiment, a user may select the menu "Operation" 730 and select an option under that menu to transfer the files to a destination device. After successfully transferring a file, the corresponding transferred file can be entered in the right transfer box 704. In an alternative embodiment, an action button for transfer may be included in the GUI to initiate the transfer.

Figure 8 shows a handheld communicator 801 communicatively coupled to a workstation or server hosting a device manager application 802. As described, the communication coupling between the handheld communicator 801 and the device manager 802 has traditionally been one-way: to the device manager for uploading device configuration and calibration data. Figure 8 shows that the data flow can be two-way 803 using the methods and systems described herein. In this system, the handheld communicator 801 can be adapted to download data from the device configuration manager 802 using the search and retrieval process described. Figure 8 also shows that the handheld communicator 810 as well as the device configuration manager 802 for a particular plant can be communicatively coupled to a cloud server 820 or public data store. The cloud server can allow third party applications, such as an asset management application 812 or a CMMS application 814, to access the configuration files.

The handheld communicators 801 and 810 of FIG. 8 can be adapted to assign relational information to configuration files that describe secondary devices to or processes affected by process control devices or process control device configurations. The relational information can vary based on user input, but at least some of the relational data (e.g., a small set of related equipment) can be used to determine whether a configuration file is suitable for replication to another similar type of device and/or will be recognized by the technician or handheld communicator device that generated the configuration file.

The device configuration manager 802 can receive configuration files containing relational information and store the configuration files indexed by device identifiers and/or process identifiers.

Using the search interfaces of FIGS. 4-7 and the system of FIG. 8, a user can query the configuration files of a plant device based on an equipment set or equipment profile and retrieve those configuration files upon connection via the plant network or cloud access. A technician can search for configuration files based on device connections that may be relevant to the configuration of a particular process control device. A technician can search for the configuration of a device not only by identifier or type, but also by what the device is connected to. Because plant devices are frequently connected to other devices, the identifiers and types of connected devices can typically affect the configuration of the device. The connection of other equipment to the device may help identify a particular configuration file or profile (used interchangeably herein) generated by a handheld communicator or a user of a handheld communicator. In situations where the plant device is a standalone device, the equipment set of an element may also provide valuable information regarding the configuration of the device. Notably, standalone devices may have specific applications and these types of devices may be further differentiated based on the process the device is used to manage. A process identifier in this situation may help search for the configuration of the device.

In an embodiment, the equipment identifier may indicate a set of process control devices associated with the device. For example, if the device is a field device sensor, the associated devices may be I/O interfaces, process controllers, or other field device sensors monitoring the same or similar process. In an embodiment, the equipment identifier may identify a group of equipment that includes the current device and the configuration of that device within the group. When querying a configuration file based on the equipment identifier, the identifier may return different portions of the equipment set surrounding the particular device, including the configuration profile of each piece of equipment in the group (see, e.g., graph 652). The results of the query may be further reduced by the type of equipment identifier or the equipment set indexed to the equipment identifier. For example, in some equipment sets, the equipment identifier may include only the current field device and the controller communicatively coupled to it. In an embodiment, it may include additional sensors or I/O devices. In an embodiment, the equipment identifier may be user-specified or generated based on a configuration session with a technician, where the equipment identifier is assigned based on a limited set of observations by the user or handheld communicator.

The device configuration manager 802 can record configuration profiles indexed by equipment identifiers. In an embodiment, the device configuration manager can also index configuration profiles by process or process identifiers. Generally, a plant process or sub-process can be defined by a set of process variables. For example, in a filling process, the process variables can describe the plant process operation as a filling process defined by flow rate, temperature, pressure, etc. Process control devices can generally be used to manage these plant processes, and the configuration of the process control devices is generally related to one or more of such plant processes. The process variables can be observable relational data that can also be used to assist an engineer in finding the appropriate configuration file. In an embodiment, the process control identifier can index a process control module that controls a particular set of equipment to manage the process variables.

In some embodiments, additional identifiers may be assigned to describe the configuration profile. In embodiments, a location identifier may be assigned that indicates the location of the process control device. The location may be local, for example within a process plant, or more global, such as a city or town (e.g., by using GPS coordinates). In embodiments, the location identifier may be metadata specific to a particular process plant. If the location data is related to the configuration, it may be used as an additional relational identifier assigned to the configuration profile, similar to an equipment identifier or process identifier.

A device configuration database (CDB) 880 can be communicatively coupled to a workstation running the device configuration manager 802 and can provide configuration files associated with DCS and AMS applications using data based on device identifiers and device types. In an embodiment, the CDB 880 can also store configuration files with equipment identifiers and associated partial equipment profiles. Although the device configuration manager 802 can access a broader set of data including a more complete equipment map of some or all device connections in the plant, the partial equipment profiles associated with and/or received as described device configurations can still be stored as partial equipment profiles in the database 880. The relational information of equipment identifiers and process identifiers can provide associated device configuration information that cannot be obtained by existing device configuration processes. In particular, the equipment identifiers can capture handheld communicator-specific and technician-specific associations of configuration files. For example, in the case of diagnosis and repair of a field device, the equipment profile generated for that configuration can provide the technician with more identifiable and distinguishable information about the repair configuration when associated with the associated device. A partial equipment profile may be relevant to a particular configuration process that provides additional meaning and information not provided by simply referencing a system map of device connections. For example, a first user may generate an equipment profile when configuring a field device sensor 1 by observing and recording field device sensor 2 associated with sensor 1 in the field for a particular process. The association of sensor 2 with sensor 1 is valuable identifying information for the configuration profile and is recorded by the CDB in an embodiment. Note that the configuration of the first sensor may be affected by the presence of a second sensor. Thus, user input that associates a first and second process control device (sensor 1 and sensor 2) may be relevant to the configuration profile.

Figure 8 illustrates a cloud storage application or server 820. This cloud server 820 can provide a distributed data store of device configurations that can be searched by device type, equipment profile/equipment identifier, and/or process profile/process identifier. This cloud share can be a privately supported database, for example an equipment manufacturer's database, that provides open source configuration files identified by equipment and process identifiers. The data can be anonymized to some extent, since configurations can be identified by associated equipment or associated sub-processes. In some embodiments, plant-specific identifying attributes can be removed or deleted from the configuration data before being pushed to a public data store, such as the cloud server 820. In this way, plants and plant management can be more open to sharing configuration files or uploading them to a sharing platform outside of their own plants.

In an embodiment, upon downloading a desired set of configuration profiles by a handheld communicator using the systems and methods described herein, the handheld communicator can be adapted to automatically install those configurations without the user having to navigate through device menu screens to make parameter changes to the process control device. By downloading an equipment set of configuration profiles, a user or technician may be able to replicate configurations across a group of related or associated equipment, thereby saving time and effort.

9 illustrates an exemplary method for managing configuration data on a handheld communicator to enable rapid retrieval of relevant plant device configuration data sets for duplication. In block 901, a first communicator device can be connected to a first process control device to access or provide services to the first process control device. The first communicator device can be directly connected to the process control device, such as a field device, for example, using a cable. In other embodiments, the first communicator can be connected using a non-wired or wireless connection. As described, there may be restrictions on the handheld communicator that may only allow certain types of wireless connections to be connected to the process control device. Once the first handheld communicator is communicatively coupled to the first process control device, the handheld communicator can access a device parameter menu of the first process control device.

In block 902, when the first handheld communicator is connected to the process control device, it can read parameter values and change parameter values of the first process control device. Reading and adjusting the configuration can be performed by the technician using a device parameter menu displayed and accessed by the first handheld communicator. The current state of the field device can be read by the handheld communicator and displayed to the technician using the user interface of the first handheld communicator. The technician can then configure or adjust parameters of the first process control device. In an embodiment, the configuration file can be installed using an installation program of the communicator without using the device menu tree of the process control device for each device parameter change.

At block 903, a configuration profile may be generated for the first process control device. In an embodiment, the configuration profile may include a device identifier, a device type, a set of process control device parameters, and a date/timestamp. The set of process control device parameters may include device parameters that were modified by the first handheld communicator. In an embodiment, the handheld communicator may generate a configuration profile for the first process control device when performing a read of the device without modifying the parameters.

At block 904, a relational identifier, such as an equipment identifier, can be assigned to the configuration profile generated at block 903. The equipment identifier can be indexed to an equipment profile that includes the first process control device. The equipment profile can include a set of interrelated process control devices. The equipment profile can include device identifiers of the associated process control devices. In an embodiment, the set of process control devices of an equipment profile can be communicatively coupled to one another. For example, the set of process control devices can represent a segment of a process plant used to perform a process or sub-process. For example, in a process plant having a filling process or sub-process, a segment can be a control loop of a filling process that includes a set of equipment or process control devices including field devices flow sensors, valve actuators, process controllers, and one or more I/O devices. In an embodiment, the handheld communicator can perform a segment analysis or discovery routine on the process control device to determine other devices to which the process control device is communicatively coupled. The handheld communicator can then generate an equipment profile with equipment identifiers corresponding to this set of devices.

In an embodiment, the set of process control devices may include some devices that are not communicatively coupled to the first process control device but have a relationship with the first process control device. For example, some devices may be proximate to the first process control device or may affect an associated process as the first process control device, but may not be in direct communication with the first process control device. In some situations, a technician may maintain unrelated process control devices. For example, some devices that the technician maintains may belong to different equipment profiles.

In an embodiment, assigning an equipment identifier in block 904 may include assigning a different equipment identifier to each configuration of each separate process control device configured by the handheld communicator. In an alternative embodiment, assigning an equipment identifier in block 904 may include determining whether the device identifier of the first process control device is already associated with an equipment profile referenced by the first handheld communicator. For example, in a situation where a technician is maintaining multiple field devices at a remote location of a plant, a subset of the field devices may belong to the same equipment profile. In an embodiment, the handheld communicator may be programmed to prompt the user whether a new process control device currently being accessed or configured belongs to one of a set of existing equipment profiles. For example, when storing a configuration profile, the handheld communicator may prompt the user whether the device or configuration profile is associated with a list of existing equipment (stored in memory) and allow the user to select an equipment profile from the displayed list to associate with the current configuration.

In an embodiment, the device profile can be generated by the handheld communicator. In a situation where the handheld communicator starts a new workflow and no previous configuration is referenced, a new device profile can be generated by the device set of one device (e.g., the device set including the currently configured initially processed control device). The device identifier can be generated as a unique identifier. As additional devices are configured by the handheld communicator, the device profile can be modified to include the additional devices. In an embodiment, the handheld communicator can periodically prompt the user to check whether the current configuration profile is associated with one or more device profiles referenced by the handheld communicator. In an embodiment, the handheld communicator can reference a set of device profiles stored in its internal memory where the referenced device profile may have been downloaded during a period of connection with the device configuration manager or device configuration database. In this embodiment, the referenced device profile can be indexed by a location identifier that can include location information and can be assigned to the configuration profile. In an embodiment, the reference device profile may provide the user with reference information to verify a particular set of connections or identify proximal devices without installing the device profile configuration. In this embodiment, the user and handheld communicator may further create device profiles separate from the profile referenced and downloaded for the current device configuration.

In an embodiment, the handheld communicator can receive input from a user to assign equipment identifiers or equipment profiles to field devices or other process control devices. For example, a user can input a device identifier for equipment proximate to a first process control device being maintained, thereby creating an equipment profile. The handheld communicator can be programmed to assign a unique equipment identifier to the user-created equipment profile. In another example, a user can input equipment identifiers for other plant devices that affect the same process as the first process control device. In an embodiment, the process control identifiers can be used to further differentiate or match equipment profiles.

FIG. 10 illustrates a data model that may be used to allow easy management, storage, and retrieval of process control device configuration data by a technician to replicate equipment, according to an embodiment. The data model may be implemented as a database, such as DCB 880, or a table within a database. FIG. 10 illustrates that a configuration profile 1000 may include a configuration identifier 1001, a device identifier 1002, a device type 1003, device parameters 1004, and a date/time 1005. The configuration profile may be assigned an equipment identifier 1006. The date/timestamp 1005 may be the date and time when the configuration profile was created or updated. In some embodiments, the configuration profile may also include a process identifier 1007 that identifies the process profile.

The device profile 1020 may include an device identifier 1021 and an device set 1022. The device set 1022 may be a list of device identifiers. As shown by row 1023, the device set 1022 or device profile for the configuration of a device may include the device identifier 1002 of the device. In some embodiments, the device identifier 1022 may also index to a device profile that provides additional descriptive information for the device, such as the device location. Alternatively, the device location may be an attribute or parameter of the device's configuration file.

The process profile 1030 can include a process identifier 1031, an equipment identifier 1032, a process description 1033, and process variables or parameters 1034. The process description can be an organization-designated name of a plant process or sub-process, such as Hot Fill F001. The process description can also describe a process type, such as "fill." The process variables can be parameters that define the process, such as pressure, level, temperature, flow rate, etc.

The data model of FIG. 10 can describe the relationships between devices, equipment, and processes. In general, a plant process may require a set of devices or equipment to operate the plant process. However, the same equipment may also be used in other processes. This may be the case in a plant where different batch processes are scheduled using the same equipment set. Additionally, equipment may be periodically rotated for maintenance or other reasons for the same process. FIG. 10 illustrates that equipment, equipment sets, or equipment profiles (described interchangeably herein) may have different configurations or configuration profiles depending on the process. A process may have different equipment with different configurations. A device may belong to multiple processes and multiple equipment sets. By assigning appropriate equipment and process identifiers to the configuration profiles of devices, technicians can easily reference, retrieve, and share relevant device configuration profiles using these identifiers when configuration data is accessible across communication platforms. Additionally, technicians may be able to access configuration profiles created by technicians themselves by referencing groups of devices associated with a device type or a process (or a specific device, e.g., unique device identifier) that is affected by the device type. These references make it easier to distinguish device configurations from one another and allow additional relevant connectivity information to be incorporated into the configuration data, making retrieval of appropriate configuration data for device cloning easier and more convenient.

Returning to FIG. 9, at block 905, the plant device configuration (e.g., configuration profile) can be queried or retrieved based on the equipment associated with the plant device. Using the described methods and systems for storing and marking data, the query can be based on a technician's observations of the environment surrounding the process control device. For example, a technician may want to duplicate a configuration profile for one or more devices. A technician can search or reference a configuration profile by a relational descriptor, such as an equipment set or process. For example, a user may be in the field and encounter a set of devices similar to a previous installation or device calibration. A technician may want to use a previous configuration file or profile instead of running a configuration process from scratch. A user may want to retrieve one or more previous configuration files (e.g., configuration profiles) from a central configuration database for automatic installation by a handheld communicator on one or more process control devices. As described, querying a configuration file by device identifier alone can generate a large number of results since a plant may have several devices of the same type. Using the described techniques, a technician can generate a query using device identifiers of nearby devices, for example, to reduce the result set. When multiple configuration profiles exist for the same equipment, the process identifier can be used to further distinguish the appropriate configuration profile to retrieve a configuration for a user's particular situation. For example, a technician can also monitor devices associated with a target device, as well as recognize the specific process being managed by the process control device currently being configured.

In addition to querying a central device configuration manager or database for a configuration profile, the handheld communicator may query and obtain configuration data from another handheld communicator in block 905. For example, in a situation where a direct or wireless connection exists between the two communicators, a technician at the first communicator can easily determine whether the second communicator has the appropriate configuration file to apply to a particular process control device in the field. A partial equipment profile or process identifier that includes only a small number of related equipment may be helpful in determining whether the configuration profile stored in the second handheld communicator can be used by the technician on the current process control device being maintained.

In an embodiment, an equipment identifier can be used to uniquely identify an equipment profile to a handheld communicator or user. Multiple configuration profiles may have similar or identical equipment listed in the equipment profile for the same device. For example, a first technician can make a first adjustment using a first communicator, thereby generating a first equipment identifier and corresponding equipment profile for the configuration. At a different time, a second technician can make a second adjustment using the first communicator, thereby generating a second equipment identifier and equipment profile. The first and second configurations can be for the same process control device, but have different equipment profiles and, as a result, different equipment identifiers. In an embodiment, if a query to the configuration database is made based on the device identifier or device type with the equipment profile, multiple configuration profiles can be output with different partial equipment profiles. A factor in determining the required partial equipment profile is the user input at the handheld communicator. The described methods and systems can be used to identify or pinpoint a configuration profile associated with a particular set of equipment and whose configuration correlates to factors observed by technicians in the field that are required to calibrate a process control device.

With reference to FIG. 8, the configuration profile with equipment profiles and process identifiers can be used for cloud sharing applications. In general, a cloud sharing service or application is a service that provides multiple users' simultaneous access to a common file data set in a public online database. In an embodiment, a central public data store that receives equipment profiles and process profiles across plants and enterprises can be maintained to share configuration files with a larger group of plant operators or technicians. This central configuration database can contain a large number of configuration profiles that aid in the installation of new processes by easily finding the appropriate configuration across multiple plants based on partial equipment and process profiles. In an embodiment, the equipment profiles and process profiles can be anonymized to maintain confidentiality of the participant configuration data providers.

In an embodiment, the equipment identifiers can be generated to be universally unique based on any number of techniques known in the art, such as, for example, based on the serial number of the process control device, a date and time value, a random variable, etc. These equipment identifiers can be unique not only within a plant, but across a plant or enterprise. In one embodiment, a configuration profile can be stored with the equipment profile having a uniquely generated equipment identifier. In this embodiment, a query of configuration data (e.g., configuration profile) based on the device and equipment profile can result in multiple configuration profiles having matching equipment profiles. In an embodiment, the handheld communicator can be programmed to determine whether the equipment profile was generated by the handheld communicator itself. The handheld communicator can determine this by keeping a record of the equipment identifiers that it has generated. Storage of the identifiers can require a relatively small amount of space compared to a complete configuration file or equipment profile. Alternatively, the handheld communicator can generate a unique-based identifier based on a unique encoding method implemented by the plant, and the handheld communicator can be programmed to recognize what it has encoded itself. In this embodiment, the handheld communicator can recognize its own device configurations and mark those configurations on the display. For example, when displaying a list of configuration profiles resulting from a search of a larger public cloud sharing service, configurations belonging to the handheld communicator can be highlighted or otherwise indicated. In some embodiments, the handheld communicator is programmed to provide the user with the option to record a name value or alias for the configuration profile. For example, a technician creating a configuration profile can name the configuration profile "Mark's Fill Process Temperature Sensor 3". In this embodiment, when the same handheld communicator searches the search results for configuration profiles, the communicator can display the results it generated using the user-specific values displayed.

Additional data can be indexed into the configuration files based on the plant or company organization. This additional data can be adapted to stay internal. For example, a plant or company may decide to encode additional plant-specific proprietary metadata into the configuration files, which can be used to identify internal plant or company data, but still allow a set of configuration files to be cloud shared without the metadata, thereby maintaining the anonymity of the contributors. In this way, the encoded equipment device identifiers can be used to retrieve plant-specific data while sharing it on the cloud.

The following additional considerations apply to the above discussion: Throughout this specification, actions described as being performed by any device or routine generally refer to the actions or processes of a processor that manipulates or transforms data according to machine-readable instructions. The machine-readable instructions may be stored on and retrieved from a memory device communicatively coupled to the processor. In other words, the methods described herein may be embodied by a series of machine-executable instructions stored on a computer-readable medium (i.e., on a memory device). The instructions, when executed by one or more processors of a corresponding device (e.g., a server, a user interface device, etc.), cause the processor to perform the method. When instructions, routines, modules, processes, services, programs, and/or applications are referred to herein as being stored or saved on a computer-readable memory or on a computer-readable medium, the terms "stored" and "saved" are intended to exclude transitory signals.

Additionally, the terms "operator," "personnel," "person," "user," "technician," and other similar terms are used to describe persons within a process plant environment who may use or interact with the systems, apparatus, and methods described herein, but these terms are not intended to be limiting. Where particular terms are used in the description, the terms are used in part for traditional activities engaged in by plant personnel, but are not intended to limit the personnel who may engage in the particular activities.

In addition, throughout this specification, multiple instances may implement the structures described as components, operations, or single instances. Although individual operations of one or more methods have been illustrated and described as separate operations, one or more of the individual operations may be performed simultaneously, and the operations need not be performed in the order illustrated. Structures and functions presented as separate components in the example configurations may be implemented as combined structures or components. Similarly, structures and functions presented as single components may be implemented as separate components. These and other variations, modifications, additions, and improvements are within the scope of the subject matter of this specification.

Unless specifically stated otherwise, discussions herein using words such as "process," "operate," "calculate," "determine," "identify," "present," "cause to present," "display," "display," and the like, may refer to the action or process of a machine (e.g., a computer) that manipulates or transforms data represented as physical (e.g., electrical, magnetic, biological, or optical) quantities in one or more memories (e.g., volatile memory, non-volatile memory, or a combination thereof), registers, or other machine components that receive, store, transmit, or display information.

When implemented in software, any of the applications, services, and engines described herein may be stored in any tangible, non-transitory computer-readable memory, such as a magnetic disk, laser disk, solid-state memory device, molecular memory storage device, or other storage medium, such as in the RAM or ROM of a computer or processor. It should be noted that while the exemplary systems disclosed herein are disclosed to include software and/or firmware running on hardware, among other components, such systems are merely exemplary and should not be considered limiting. For example, it is contemplated that any or all of these hardware, software, and firmware components may be embedded solely in hardware, solely in software, or in any combination of hardware and software. Thus, one skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the examples provided are not the only ways of implementing such systems.

Thus, while the present invention has been described with reference to specific examples, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that these examples are illustrative only and are not intended to be limitations of the present invention, and that modifications, additions, or deletions may be made to the disclosed embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

It should also be understood that unless a term is expressly defined in this patent using the sentence "As used herein, the term ____ is defined herein to mean . . . " or a similar sentence, there is no intention to limit the meaning of the term, either expressly or by implication, beyond its plain or ordinary meaning, and such term should not be construed as being limited in scope based on any statement made in any section of this patent (other than the claim language). If any term recited in the final claim of this patent is referred to in this patent in a manner consistent with a single meaning, it is done merely for clarity so as not to confuse the reader, and it is not intended that such claim term be limited, by implication or otherwise, to that single meaning. Finally, unless a claim element is defined by the words "means" and a description of a function without any recitation of structure, the scope of any claim element is not intended to be construed based on application of 35 U.S.C. 112(f) and/or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 35 U.S.C. 112, paragraph 6.

Moreover, although the above text describes detailed descriptions of many different embodiments, it should be understood that the scope of this patent is defined by the language of the claims set forth at the end of this patent. The detailed description should be construed as merely exemplary and does not describe all possible embodiments, as describing all possible embodiments would be impractical, if not impossible. Many alternative embodiments could be implemented using either current technology or technology developed after the filing date of this patent, which would still fall within the scope of the claims.

Claims (26)

1. A method for sharing plant device configuration data collected by a handheld communicator for a set of process control devices, comprising:
communicatively coupling a first handheld communicator to a first process control device;
modifying a set of device parameters of the first process control device using the first handheld communicator;
generating a first configuration profile for the first process control device, the first configuration profile including a configuration identifier, a device identifier, a set of process control device parameters, and a date and time parameter, the subset of the process control device parameters including a set of device parameters that were modified by the first handheld communicator;
assigning a set of relational identifiers to the first configuration profile, the relational identifiers including at least one equipment identifier, the equipment identifier referencing at least a second process control device associated with the first process control device;
and querying the first configuration profile with the device identifier and the at least one equipment identifier to obtain the first configuration profile. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one equipment identifier indexes an equipment profile stored in a memory of the first handheld communicator, the equipment profile including a device identifier of the second process control device. The method of claim 2, wherein the at least one equipment identifier is generated by the first handheld communicator and is unique across configuration data collected from multiple plants. The method of any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising generating an equipment profile indexed by the at least one equipment identifier, the equipment profile including indexes of associated process control devices including the first and second process control devices. The method of claim 4, wherein generating the device profile is performed by the first handheld communicator. 6. The method of claim 4 or claim 5, further comprising: performing process control segment diagnostics by the first handheld communicator, and generating the equipment profile is based on devices identified by segment analysis while the first handheld communicator is coupled to the first process control device. 7. The method of claim 4, further comprising: recording detected device connections between the first process control device and the second process control device; and generating an equipment profile based on the detection, the equipment profile indicating a set of equipment communicatively coupled to the first process control device, including the second process control device. The method of claim 4 , wherein the equipment profile is based on user input received at the first handheld communicator as part of a configuration process of the first process control device. The method of claim 8, further comprising prompting a user of the first handheld communicator to determine whether the first process control device is associated with an equipment profile of another device identifier in a memory of the first handheld communicator. 10. The method of claim 1 , wherein assigning a set of relational identifiers comprises assigning a process identifier to the first configuration profile, the process identifier indexing a process control profile, the process control profile comprising a set of attributes including at least the process identifier . 11. The method of claim 10, further comprising prompting a user of the first handheld communicator to determine whether the first process control device is associated with a process identifier of another device stored in a memory of the first handheld communicator. 12. The method of claim 10 or claim 11, wherein assigning a set of relational identifiers to the first configuration profile is performed by the first handheld communicator prior to transmitting the first configuration profile to another device. The method of any of claims 10 to 12, wherein the process identifier is manually entered by a user as part of a configuration process. The method of claim 13, wherein the process identifier is indexed to a control loop module identifier. The method of any one of claims 1 to 14, wherein generating a first configuration profile includes encoding a plant-specific identifier into the configuration identifier, and further includes displaying the obtained set of configuration profiles on the first handheld communicator, wherein the configuration profile including the encoded plant-specific identifier is displayed using a local plant alias assigned by the first handheld communicator. 1. A system for sharing plant device configuration data collected by a handheld communicator for a plurality of process control devices, comprising:
a first process control device including one of a set of devices including a process controller, an input/output interface, or a field device;
a first handheld communicator device removably coupled to the first process control device,
accessing a device parameter menu of the first process control device to execute a set of write commands to the first process control device;
generating a configuration profile capturing a set of device parameters of the field device, the set of write commands modifying the set of device parameters of the first process control device;
a first handheld communicator device adapted to assign to the configuration profile an equipment identifier that indexes to an equipment profile that includes a set of process control devices associated with the field device;
a device configuration database adapted to receive the configuration profile from the handheld communicator and to store the configuration profile indexed by at least a device identifier and an equipment identifier. The system of claim 16, further comprising a second handheld communicator communicatively coupled to a second process control device, the second handheld communicator further adapted to query and retrieve the configuration profile from the device configuration database based on the device identifier and the equipment profile, and install the configuration profile on the second process control device. 18. The system of claim 16 or claim 17, further comprising a second handheld communicator directly coupled to the first handheld communicator, the second handheld communicator adapted to query and retrieve the configuration profiles by sending a request to the first handheld communicator for a list of configuration profiles associated with a device identifier and an equipment identifier. 20. The system of claim 18, further comprising: downloading the queried configuration profile from the first handheld communicator to the second handheld communicator and automatically installing process control device parameters of the configuration profile to a second process control device communicatively coupled to the second handheld communicator . 20. The system of any of claims 16 to 19, wherein the handheld communicator is further adapted to assign a process identifier to the configuration profile. 21. The system of claim 16, wherein the handheld communicator is further adapted to encode a plant unique identifier into a configuration identifier. 22. The system of claim 21, wherein the handheld communicator is further adapted to recognize the plant-specific identifier and display an alias value instead of a default configuration identifier value when the configuration profile is retrieved by the handheld communicator. 23. The system of claim 16, wherein the device configuration database is hosted by a cloud storage service. 24. The system of claim 23, further comprising a plant workstation communicatively coupled to the device configuration database and the cloud storage service and adapted to recognize a plant-encoded configuration identifier and transfer the configuration profile to a cloud server after removing a plant-specific encoding in the configuration identifier. 1. A computing device for use in configuring a plant device, comprising:
a computer readable memory;
A processor;
a first interface communicatively coupled to a first process control device, the first interface being removable from the first process control device;
a configuration application stored in the computer readable memory;
communicating with the first process control device via the first interface;
Modifying a set of device parameters of the first process control device;
generating a first configuration profile for the first process control device, the first configuration profile including a configuration identifier, a device identifier, a set of process control device parameters, and a date and time parameter;
A computing device adapted to be executed on the processor to assign at least one equipment identifier to the first configuration profile that references at least a second process control device associated with the first process control device. 26. The computing device of claim 25, wherein the configuration application is further adapted to assign a process identifier to the first configuration profile, the process identifier indexing a process control profile, the process control profile including a set of attributes that includes the process identifier .

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